Interlude SHIELD: Fury

Location: Unknown

Date: June 7 2008

He enjoyed looking over the vast ocean from his office, especially when the Helicarrier was airborne. It filled him with a sense of pride in one of his favourite achievements - the Helicarrier.

It allowed him to move SHIELD HQ around and keep it mobile. If your enemy doesn't know where you are, they don't know where to hit or how to infiltrate. And it has nothing to do with his eyepatch or trenchcoat, despite what gossipers might say.

He learned his lesson very well back in the nineties: never trust, especially if it's friendly. He felt a subconscious impulse to touch his eyepatch but resisted it.

That's why he was standing here, looking out over a vast ocean thousands of feet below the belly of his fancy toy, contemplating two issues: Stark, aka Iron Man, and Romanova, aka Black Widow.

If it were just Stark, he could easily find an angle to gain control over him. Iron Man is a perfect candidate for his other project - the Avengers, and recruiting him would be an easy task. Everyone has weaknesses, and Stark is no exception. He just needs to mention Howard, claiming personal acquaintance, or perhaps infiltrate his home discreetly to demonstrate that Stark needs additional protection, showing vulnerabilities in his security. A few mysterious remarks and it's done. Easy.

If it were just Romanova, that would be easy as well. Black Widow was raised as a weapon. A weapon that may have rebelled against its wielder. She is not the first nor the last recruit they've absorbed from foreign elements. The issue is she isn't a recruit, and there's no guarantee she is the Black Widow.

When he sent Agent Barton to recruit her after the Red Room's downfall, he was testing her. If she had been assigned to infiltrate SHIELD, she would have accepted the offer. That would imply that the downfall of the Red Room was an orchestrated smokescreen.

Even if she truly left the Red Room without any hidden motives, she would agree to the offer. He is confident that the Black Widow wouldn't miss the chance to use SHIELD as a shield against others trying to enlist her services by force or pay her back for deflection and destruction.

It matters not, he would benefit in both scenarios. In one case, he would gain insight into their activities and be one step ahead. In the other, he wouldn't trust her anyway. Either way, he would have a well-trained operative and field agent.

But she did not accept the offer. And maybe she isn't the Black Widow at all. Yes, Agent Barton reported that the intel raised his bullshit meter, but what he wasn't informed about was that the intel came directly from the Red Room sleeping agent. At least, that's what he thought before. Now? He has no way to confirm it. Unfortunately, the agent never reported again and, likely, was dead.

The point is: Romanova might or might not be a Black Widow, but she is somehow connected to Stark, and that is a problem in itself.

Stark might be compromised (or might not be) and he has to find a way to deal with it. At least, the chances of Stark being conscripted into the Ten Rings are minimal now. 

He has to find an angle to use them both.

What to do, what to do.

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In the end, he decides to approach Stark at his home, bypassing his security in the process. Stark's reaction would tell him enough about the nature of his connection to Romanova. He can work with that and plan future steps.

His first clue that something was amiss came when he couldn't find the little trinket he had 'borrowed' from the Skrulls - it had somehow gone missing.

It took hours to locate it; apparently, the R&D department had taken it and the report had gotten lost in the process.

He made a mental note to investigate further and proceeded with his plan, already in a foul mood.

It worked like a charm, or so he thought, until fucking Stark barged in with the Iron Man gauntlet already charged, ready to shoot at the slightest provocation.

It was his second clue, and he missed it.

"Who the hell are you?"

His plan has already taken a hit, but he is nothing if not professional and adaptive.

"Nick Fury. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D." He replied calmly, turning around.

"For a moment, I thought your security was lacking, but it looks like I don't need to worry," he complimented Stark, hoping to soothe his ego.

"Ah," said Stark, but instead of relaxing, he powered up his gauntlet even more, judging by the whining sound.

"Get to the point, Willy."

"I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative," he tried to steer the conversation, but he could already tell it wasn't working. Stark was paranoid; something had spooked him before, and he didn't like it one bit.

"Is this some kind of spy club or what? Sorry, not really my scene. I'll take a hard pass on that."

He assessed Stark's posture, facial expression, and body tension. Stark wasn't going to talk; he needed more information.

All he could do now was sow seeds of doubt and fuel Stark's paranoia. Whether Romanova is the Black Widow or not, throwing a wedge between them is something that he can do now and reap fruits at a later date.

"Watch who you trust, Stark," he said, already moving to the door.

"Not everyone is who they seem to be."

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